Philadelphia and the State of PA has a law on the books barring any vehicle from idling for more than 5 minutes.
This law is like most others in the City of Brotherly Love in that it is rarely enforced. It irks me to no end when I’m walking down the sidewalk on a hot summer day with my kids and have to walk through a cloud of cancer-causing diesel exhaust because some tool doesn’t feel like turning off his vehicle.
Every morning when I drop my kids off at school there’s at least one delivery truck and a line of buses all idling in in front of the school, with the school door wide open. The entire first floor which is full of little kids smells like exhaust.
Luckily today I got an email from the Clean Air Council notifying me of a new web-based mapping tool that allows residents to report illegal idling to the City of Philadelphia’s Air Management Services, as well as to the Clean Air Council and to identify locations where idling is a recurring problem.
Maybe this will help get the city to take action to clean up the quality of the air in our city.
NOTE: I fully understand that service vehicles like buses and ambulances may need to idle. I also understand that some vehicles may need to remain running in the winter.
Also, I understand that some right-leaning readers discount the effects of vehicle emissions on the environment. This tune is for you:
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